Month: June 2014

Today, while eating lunch with my brother and mom, I watched a new movie – Forever Strong. And WOW. The people who made this sports movie seriously did an outstanding job! The storyline was great and engaging, and this is coming from someone who is really not into sports that much.

*Warning – Spoilers Ahead*

I was not expecting to enjoy it as much as I did. This is a rugby movie and it follows the life of a young man who has become quite arrogant and lost. He is fixing to get a reality check. The fact that this young man’s father has tried to make his (the dad’s) dreams come true through his son, doesn’t help the situation, nor all the pressure put upon him.

When he lands in juvenile for drunk driving and causing one of his passengers to get hurt, it is the start of the change although it takes a while for this man to be willing to truly listen to anyone.

At a point in the movie, this young man is still in juvenile, however, they allow him to go and start playing rugby with the Highlanders. This rugby team is very different from his fathers – the Razorbacks – rugby team. Character, integrity, being true to your friends and yourself, and doing nothing that would not make your parents, family, or team proud are all important elements and things to this team. This is the start of his change.

I won’t ruin anymore of the movie for y’all, but I strongly suggest y’all go out and rent or buy it!

I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below about my blog so far! Any suggestions or what you liked/didn’t like would be great!

This morning I looked on my dining room table and what do I see? A package containing the first book of the Christy & Todd: The Married Years series. *squeal* I was soooooo incredibly excited!!! I adore this series and as one who has read the entire Christy Miller series multiple times, I can assure you these books are amazing!

If you have never read any of Robin Jones Gunn’s books, I encourage you to start! Below are the books in the Christy Miller series, preceding Forever with You.

Christy Miller Volume 4 (A Time to Cherish, Sweet Dreams, and A Promise Is Forever)

Christy and Todd: The College Years (Until Tomorrow, As Your Wish, and I Promise)

Now, on to the review! 🙂

*Warning – Spoilers Ahead*

This book does not disappoint! As an avid reader of this series, I was pleased to find it lived up to my expectations.

It starts out with Todd and Christy Spencer married and living in an apartment. Todd is currently a youth pastor and truly loves the teens he works with. On the other hand, Christy is employed at The Ark – a bookstore.

This book is mostly about the struggles Christy and Todd are going through in their life right now – mostly financially. It shows the times when they struggle understanding why God allowed Christy to be laid off, and why Todd resigned and can’t seem to find a job. Yet, it always comes back to the conclusion that God knows best and they are in His hands even though they might not understand their circumstances or why they are being tested.

When I completed reading Forever With You, I was left desiring more, which in my opinion, is always a good thing.

I encourage all of you to go and if you haven’t yet, pick up the first book in the Christy Miller series. If, like me, you have already read those, go ahead and order your copy of Forever With You today! You won’t regret it!

– Southern Dreamer

P.S. If anyway is reading this :P, how do you like what I am writing about so far? I would love any suggestions you might offer!

Happy Father’s Day to all the Father’s out there! Dads are so important in families, and I think we all need to let them know how much they are appreciated!

I know with my own daddy, it means a lot when he tells me I did well on something or takes time to do something with me that I like.

Although we all, or most of us, love our fathers dearly, the fact is, they are not perfect. They make mistakes, sometimes give bad advice, and at times yell. There is, however, one perfect father.

When anyone accepts Jesus as their personal Savior and believes in Him, he immediately becomes their Heavenly Father. 2 Corinthians 6:18 says,

“And I will be your Father, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.” (NLT)

This is referring to when any of us accepts the free gift of salvation that Christ offers. Jesus will NEVER leave you or desert you although it is normal to sometimes wonder if he is there. Romans 8:38-39 says,

“For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (ESV)

Also, although it is difficult for humans to forgive others, when we accept Christ as our Savior, ALL of our sins are forgiven. That does not mean we should continue on the path of sinfulness (I don’t mean we will never sin, I just am trying to say that we should try our very best to turn from our ways and become more like Christ), it does mean however, that we are forgiven. Colossians 3:13 says,

“Bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.” (ESV)

We all go through hard things in life, myself included. When I got narcolepsy and cataplexy, this became my favorite verse – Joshua 1:9. It says,

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” (NIV)

So Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there and especially the very first father – our Lord.

Yesterday night, my family and I went to the theater to see…How To Train Your Dragon 2! It was wonderful! With all the twists, surprises, and new characters, it was a huge improvement from the first one!

*Warning – Spoilers Ahead*

In this sequel, the characters have definitely grown-up. Below are some pictures I found of the characters, the first picture is from the original and the second is from the sequel.

Hiccup:

Astrid:

Tuffnut and Ruffnut (for their first one, I’m not sure if it is from the first or second movie):

Fishlegs:

Snoutlout:

There were also many new characters – Hiccup’s mother, Eret, and Drago, not to mention many different dragons. I definitely did not expect what happened in the movie, there were many twists that I found surprising. Sometimes trailers give away all of the best parts of the movie, but this was not the case with How To Train Your Dragon 2.

When Stoick, Hiccup’s father died, I was shocked! It was quite unexpected, luckily, the movie didn’t end there. Several scenes in the movie were funny, one being, when Stormfly was carrying Eret in her claws. Astrid was attempting to get Eret to tell her where Drago was, however, he was not complying. Eret kept on hollering to Astrid for her to go ahead and let him die, so, Astrid ordered Stormfly to drop Eret…down. When she did that, Eret panicked and yelled at her that he would take her to Drago. After Stormfly grabbed Eret, Astrid said, “works every time.” 🙂

Here goes my second blog post ever! 🙂 In the “About” section of my blog, I mentioned that I am homeschooled. Actually, I have only been homeschooled for two years, previously I had attended a private Christian school. Anyways, I thought I would give y’all all a summary of the curriculum I use, in case any of y’all are thinking about switching up your curriculum or are beginning to think about homeschooling. Below are all the different types of curriculum that I have used, including the ones I currently am (and will be) using.

1. Potter’s School

Potter’s School is an online school. All of their classes are either one day or two days a week, for an hour and a half per class. They offer classes ranging from accounting and macroeconomics all the way to Arabic and web design, not to mention all the usual subjects and courses. I have found their English program to be excellent, and you truly learn to write well. Regarding their math program, it is very challenging and quite frankly math online is just tough. For me personally, I feel that math is one of those subjects that is sort of difficult to learn and thrive with online. If you decide to go through Potter’s School, you will receive credits for taking the classes. I am currently using Potter’s School as part of my education. If this interests you, the link below will take you to their website where you can get more information.

Sonlight is not an online school, but it is a curriculum that contains material for students in pre-school all the way through grade twelve. One wonderful benefit about this curriculum, is that what you are learning about in history corresponds to your reading books. Also, they have the weeks and days planned out for you, in other words, they give you a schedule to follow. Of course, if you don’t want to follow it, that’s fine, but it definitely helps give some structure and lessens the stress of having to come up with one on your own. Sonlight has every normal school subject covered. The link below will take you to their website if you are interested.

Red Wagon Tutorials is an online school, and I think (I am not 100% sure about this) that they only do science classes. This is an excellent online school as well, and like Potter’s School, each class is an hour and a half. They have classes once a week. I am currently using this.

So there y’all go! These are all the different curriculums I have used before, however, coming up this next school year I will be trying out BJU for my math and vocabulary.

Now, on to the GHEA Conference! Today, my family and I, traveled to Atlanta, which is about an hour from where we live, to go to the Georgia Homeschooling Conference. It is a great time to see all the separate vendors and curriculums in one place, and to get to physically see it. Teaching Textbooks, Math-U-See, Apologia, Bob Jones University, and Sonlight were only some of the ones there among many more.

A couple of weeks ago, my family and I were in Atlanta, and we decided to go to a theatre and see the new movie God’s Not Dead. I was so excited and had already seen the movie trailer many times, so I could not wait until the movie started! We found our seats and the lights dimmed. After all the many, many, commercials and previews for other movies had passed, it finally began!

*Warning – spoilers ahead*

The movie did not disappoint! I loved it! Those who developed it, incorporated so many different, real-life elements into the film. A young, Christian college student whose professor attacked his faith, one young woman who was diagnosed with cancer, and still, one college aged female decides between her Muslim upbringing and all she has ever known or a new life of truth and hope. The battle between taking a stand in what you believe in or conforming to what everyone else is telling you, remains evident throughout the film.

The Newsboys and Willie and Korie Robertson make a special appearance in the movie, and one of the actors is Kevin Sorbo, who has been in movies such as Soul Surfer, What If, and Hercules.

I am thrilled that more and more Christian, and moral-containing movies are being made! I highly recommend this movie, and it is appropriate for any age group.